Inside David Letterman’s love life

Nearly two weeks after David Letterman first revealed that he was the victim of an alleged $2 million blackmail plot — and shocked fans with his on-air confession that he had had sex with women who work for him — the veil over the “Late Show” host’s previously super-private love life has lifted.

And, as friends and other sources reveal, that love life has always been both idiosyncratic — and messy. While one source close to Letterman told PEOPLE that Letterman’s affairs — including an alleged liaison with his longtime assistant, Stephanie Birkitt — “pre-existed his marriage” to Regina Lasko last March, it is his marriage that Letterman will be working to shore up as he heads on vacation in the coming week. People.com: The woman at the center of the Letterman scandal Lasko, 48, who dated Letterman, 62, for more than 20 years and is the mother of his 5-year-old son, Harry, never speaks to press and is rarely photographed. She is “wonderfully nice” but “long-suffering because of the length of time Letterman dated her but wouldn’t marry her,” says one longtime “Late Show” insider. “She was crazy about him, so she put up with the situation.” Yet Letterman was always drawn to other smart, funny women as well — including Birkitt, 34. “Stephanie is sweet, goofy and quirky, which is a major lure for David,” said the source, who has discussed both Lasko and Birkitt with Letterman. “She’s a peculiar character and David is fascinated with peculiar women.” Still, a source close to the TV host, if forced to make a choice, Letterman will opt to shore up his marriage. “The truth is,” said the source, “he’s 24-7 focused on his wife and son.”